Earthquake tidbit
 

The earthquake moved the entire island of Sumatra 100' southwest!

I haven't heard ANYTHING at all about the situation in Indonesia, Sumatra or elsewhere. Indonesia's one of the most populous nations in the world (7th?) so they're certainly at huge risk.

How many fewer lives would've been lost had the governments around the Indian Ocean established some sort of warning system? I heard that some areas had up to two hours of warning between feeling the quake and seeing the tsunami(s).

Thom, where did you read that? That's a lot.

I'm guessing Thom heard it on NPR (as did I)...possibly quoting the LA Times.

http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20041227-092017-3455r.htm

Calls to Jesus' office requesting comments went unanswered.

Just goes to show the REAL POWER lies with our Mother Nature.

We have a relative who is teaching English in Indonesia, she was suppose to call Christmas day. She was suppose to go to Bali for Christmas so we assumed she wasn't able to call due to lack of easily available phone...we haven't heard from her yet.

As a Geologist, I can appreciate the magnitude of this event, but I'll never know what it is really like over there right now...pure chaos.

A 9 on the Richter scale...100' shift seems plausible considering the event occured just off the coast...scary.

How many minutes did this one last? Anchorage in '64 lasted, I think, 10 minutes.

4 minutes is the number I heard....

Rather amazing how quickly somethign like this can make one feel insignificant in the grand scheme of things.

four minutes at R9???!!!! speechless!

Another tidbit: tsunamis hit the coastline at 30-40 mph, but in the ocean, they move at 500 mph. As a comparison, a commercial jetliner cruises at 530 mph.

In Sri Lanka, after the tsunamis hit the coast, the water shredded away everything of the coast, leaving jagged ravines and huge boulders.

My brother, who runs the India/middle east region for a large international relief org., left Minnesota, (where we are spending family X-mas), @ noon today for Sri Lanka. He and his wife live in Delhi, my time here w/ them was cut short but at least for pressing reason.

Unholy hell awaits him there, but as he said, at least it's over except for a hell of a lot of work and human tragedy. I don't expect that he will have time to answer or write an email for weeks, but we'll see. I'll fill you guys in w/ any firsthand info that I do get. :cool:

On the National Weather Service website, the largest tsunami was created by a landslide in Alaska. The wave at the shore was 1722 ft tall!!!

I heard a survivor of the '64 quake tell of how her father gathered the family into their car and drive inland just ahead of the tsunami that overtook the small town they lived in. The whole time she said the ground continued to shake under them.
I remember the '94 Northridge quake felt like it would never stop and it was actually only 30 some seconds. 4minutes at a 9 !! Heartstopping no doubt.

Even though the immediate danger has subsided, now they have to be concerned with desease and other health issues that are just as deadly. Best wishes for your brother and his family Dennis.

Whew!
 

My uncle, Arnold, was in the area when the tsunami hit. Here's an email he sent from his sailboat. English is not his first language.
Jurgen


7d 36m N

98d 22m E

Another great anchorage’s, beautiful long horseshoe bay, with a sandy beach and resort at the tip. I arrived the night before and anchored in 37 foot of water with 150 foot of chain out. By 8:30 a.m. I had finished my second cup of coffee but did not make breakfast as I was planning to spend the day ashore. With the boarding latter over and snorkel gear in hand I was going to check the anchor. The water was rushing by the boat at great speed, so I decided to wait for the tide to come in. I happened to look at the beach, the water had already risen way above the beach and my dept gouge was reading over 50 ft. Realizing this was no ordinarry incoming tide I turned my motor on. The next thing I noticed that the beach and all its contend was gone chairs, umbrellas including the sand and my dept gauge was reading 8 ft. At this point I still had no idea as to what was happening, except that it was not normal. Than the water was coming in again but at greater speed.

It was time to leave but there was a boat behind me with a crew of 5 and a Danish boat to the left with a crew of 6 and 4 kids, I was by myself with a grading angle at least I hoped there was. The boat behind me was already taking in the anchor. It took 3 pulling with one of the girls at the helm steering the boat forward taking up the slack. I went to take in my anchor with the windlass. I still had 50 ft. out by the time they had their anchor up and getting out of the anchorage. Had no idea where I got strength from but I pulled the last 50 ft by hand with no one at the helm to motor the boat forward .I was pulling E-2’s eleven ton against an out coming tide. With the anchor just above the water I ran back to the helm to steer out. By the time I got there the boat had already turned around. Full throttle forward and E-2 was on its way out, the only problem the water had dropped back down to 8 ft. and I could see the reef. The Danish boat had a crewmember in the water; he went for a swim before all this happened. They were trying to get him back on board without much success, as the boat was swinging violently and they were much closer to the beach. With the engine running they almost hid him. He was trying to get them to stop the engine, as the prop would cut him to peaces. He was still in the water when I cleared the bay. Halve an hour later I saw them come out of the bay with him aboard I am sure. I do not thing those Vikings would leave one of there own behind to save the ship.

I did not know until I got to ****et nine miles away that an earthquake in Indonesia had caused a title wave. Looking back I have no idea how my anchor held or how I was able to get it up at the last minute. The what ifs are to numerous to mention and any one of them would have bin disastrous to E -II

The last huge one to hit in the Indian Ocean basin was 500 years ago.. The nations around the Pacific are far better prepared. In fact, Tsunami is a Japanese word..

science...just amazes me that we can even monitor something like this and then produce facts like speed and distance above and below water! Damn I can't even convert the speed of my mph speedo into kmh that fast.

Yeah, but if you want REAL ULTIMATE POWER, it's Ninja's that have them! Click here.

Yeah, I know it's a repost from ages gone by...

-Z-man.